Picture Perfect
by Anna J. Perley
Summary: When Spencer finds an old box containing pictures from his past, he can't help but remember treasured memories he'd never think to look back on. Especially after everything that happened 2 years later. ***ReidxOC pairing


**A/N: This story takes place during season 11, but the flash backs will be from season 8. These are 3 years apart, but since 'Zugzwang' came out in 2012, I consider it to be 2.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own the show 'Criminal Minds' or any of the show's characters, as well as the quite used below. All credit goes to their rightful owner(s).**

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 _"What feels like the end is often the beginning." - Unknown_

Spencer's eyes scanned the thousands of books on his bookshelves, looking for his newest novel to read. Obviously, he had read pretty much all of them, but it was always nice to go back and re-read a couple of stories once and a while, especially when you had nothing better to do.

It was a cold and rainy day in Quantico, Virginia. For some unknown reason, all the serial killers had decided to take a break from killing anyone this particular day, and Spencer had finished all of his paperwork way before anyone else had started theirs, leaving him with the rest of the day off.

Reading all of the titles of the books his eyes came upon, Spencer recalled all that was in the story, from each of their plots, to all of their characters. On his 5th bookshelf, his eyes landed on a book, but for some reason, Spencer wasn't able to read its' title.

About half a second later, Spencer finally realized that it was because it wasn't a book, but a medium-sized box about the same size as his physics textbook. Curiosity overcoming him, Spencer reached up and picked up the box, sitting down on the floor and placing it on his lap.

Picking the box up and examining it, Spencer tried to remember where he had got it. Surely, he would remember buying a box and putting it on his shelf. He remembered everything.

This box in particular, though...he didn't remember. At all.

Setting it back down on his lap, Spencer carefully lifted up the lid and opened it.

Inside of the box were pictures that seemed to come from a Polaroid camera. There was a lot of them, all with something written at the bottom of each image. The pictures seemed to be organized from the past to the present, all put in that specific order to tell a story.

Reaching into the box and taking out the first picture of the pile, a soft smile grew on Spencer's face.

Warmth seemed to fill Spencer's body, a familiar tingly-feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. It was a picture of him looking at the camera with a hot dog about 2.4 centimeters away from his mouth, a confused look on his face.

He leaned back against the bookshelf, staring at the tiny photo in his hand. Slowly, he began to reminisce that sunny day of July 12, 2012.

 **July 12, 2012**

Spencer Reid walked down the quite path of the park he had always come to on his days off to play chess. He had just finished a chess tournament with a couple of teenagers, obviously winning all of them.

He had to admit, though, that they were all pretty good. Each one of the people he had went against during chess had showed knowledge and love for the game. Spencer knew to come back to the park on the next day he had off and play a few more games with them.

Feeling a little bit hungry, Spencer hadn't had any breakfast this morning and went straight to the park instead, he began making his way to a near-by hot dog stand.

Spencer was never really one to get hot dogs...ever. The food was greasy, and fattening, and just down right unhealthy (to him at least), and he rarely ever had time to get a hot dog...or anything else besides Chinese take-out and coffee at that.

Today, though, Spencer felt like doing something different. He didn't know why, but he felt the strange urge to buy his very first hot-dog (in a very long time) at _'Nico's Hot Dawgs'_ stand.

Stopping in front of the stand, Spencer ordered a hot-dog and payed for it, grabbing a bunch of napkins and putting them around the hot dog to make sure that none of the grease got on his hands.

Just as he was about to take a bite out of the hot dog, Spencer heard a click and saw the flash of a bright light. Looking up in confusion, Spencer saw a young woman holding a Polaroid and examining the newly-took photo.

She was wearing dark blue jeans, a purple shirt, and a black leather-jacket. The young woman had blonde hair with purple, pink, and green streaks pulled up into a pony-tail. Her ears had 3 piercings in each, all black and in different shapes. She looked to be about the same age as him.

The girl blew onto the photo, waiting for it to develop. When it finally did, she chuckled. "You look like you've never eaten a hot dog before. Need help?" She walked towards Spencer and showed him the photo. "Though I must admit...you do look kind of cute."

Spencer looked at the photo the woman had taken.

It definitely wasn't his best. With the hot dog close to his already-open mouth and his confused gaze, Spencer couldn't have looked more awkward.

He looked at the mysterious woman, a questioning look on his face. "Um...if you don't mind me asking, why did you take a picture of me?''

The girl put the photo in her purse, closing it before taking another picture of him. "I like taking pictures of things that intrigue me."

"Intrigue you?"

"Yes." She took the photo and did the same thing she had with the other. "And you, sir, seem to intrigue me very much."

Putting her camera away, the girl stretched her hand out to give him a proper hand-shake. "Wren Davis; aspiring Artist, Largiloquent, and Lexophile. And you are?"

Spencer took her hand and shook it awkwardly, not wanting to be rude. "Dr. Spencer Reid."

Wren smirked, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "Doctor, huh? Impressive. I like you already."

"Thanks?"

"No problem." Wren looked at the hot dog Spencer still held in his hand. "So, uh...You gonna eat that, or do you actually need help?"

"Huh?" Spencer looked down and saw the hot dog. "Oh, yes. I mean, yes, I'm going to eat it. And no, I do not need any help."

"Alright." Wren shook her head, smiling slightly. " I was just making sure."

Spencer nodded, awkwardly walking away from the the strange woman and the stand, wanting nothing more than to eat his tiny hot dog and be alone. To his surprise, Wren followed him, walking alongside the young genius.

"What are you doing?"

 _"Walking with you. Isn't it obvious?"_

"Um...okay?"

Spencer awkwardly made his way towards a near-by bench a top a nice patch of grass, watching as Wren sat down beside him.

He proceeded to eat his hot dog, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the fact that a woman had followed him from a hot dog stand and was currently watching him eat.

Once Spencer finished his hot dog, he turned towards Wren and licked his lips. "So...are you going to leave now, or..."

"No" She shook her head. "I'm going to stay here until you leave."

"But...I finished my hot dog."

"I see that."

"Okay." Spencer turned around and stared at the floor, not knowing what else to do.

"So, you're a Doctor, right? What type of a doctor are you?" Wren looked at him curiously.

"I'm actually not a medical doctor. I hold 3 PhD's in Mathematics, Engineering, and Chemistry." He responded.

She smiled. "Wow! That's awesome. You're probably a genius, huh? Whats' your line of work?"

"Um, I'm a behavioral analyst for the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI."

Wren chuckled. "Well, one thing's for sure. You definitely don't disappoint. I work at an art gallery in Quantico. I'm trying to get my paintings out there, selling them and what-not. Though, I think I'm better at photography. You know, you should definitely come to gallery some time. I think you'll like it there."

"Thank you." Spencer responded. "I'll see if I can."

Wren smiled, her light blue eyes shining in the light. "Great! They're some awesome artists that have yet to be discovered, me being one of them, but that isn't really important. Its' even next to this really cool book store where they sell these really old books. Its' super cool. I love going in there and reading some of the books. Who are your favorite authors?"

The two talked for about 2 more hours about art, books, and each other, Spencer finally agreeing to meet up with her on the next day he had off at the art gallery. Wren had promised to go to the book store with him later on as well.

It was about time he started going out and meeting new people again. It had been 6 months after Maeve's death, and Spencer new he couldn't wallow in his pain and misery anymore.

Getting up off of the bench and telling him that she'd see him soon, Wren waved 'good bye' to Spencer, running towards the direction of the hot-dog stand.

Feeling something beside him, Spencer looked at the spot where Wren had been sitting. A photo sat in the place she had been earlier, shining in the sun's reflection.

Spencer picked it up. He noticed that it must've been the second photo she took, since it wasn't the one of him and the hot dog. Underneath the image was a phone number.

Spencer chuckled and shook his head, admitting the 9-digit number to his memory.

For the first time in six months, Spencer found himself actually looking forward to something.

 **Present**

Spencer smiled at the memory, putting the photo down beside him, before noticing something.

Underneath the image, a short sentence was written.

 _'The beginning of the end'_

Spencer looked at it in confusion, wondering what Wren had meant when she wrote it.

Setting the picture down beside him and pushing the thought away, Spencer picked up the next picture in the mysterious, white box.

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 **A/N: Please review and let me know what you think.**


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